SNEAK PEAK – Navy Secretary Ray Mabus this morning will unveil his recovery plan for the Gulf Coast. POLITICO's Gordon Lubold reports that the former Mississippi governor will ask Congress to use the penalties that will be collected under the federal Clean Water Act to fund his proposal, which includes economic development, community planning, ecosystem and environmental restoration, public health efforts and assistance to individuals and business affected by the spill. http://politi.co/9pyWu1
WHILE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC – The National Oil Spill Commission will reconvene today to discuss the environmental and economic rehabilitation of the Gulf region. The highlight of the second and final day is expected to be the 10:30 a.m. panel, which is comprised of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. Landrieu is expected to tout her so-called "RESPOND Act" that would funnel 80 percent of the money collected from BP for Clean Water Act violations to coastal restoration projects in the Gulf. You can find the full agenda for the event here: http://bit.ly/97wDc4
WHITE HOUSE INCHING CLOSER TO LIFTING DRILLING BAN – That was the headline from Day 1 of the commission's hearing. "[BOEMRE chief] Michael Bromwich … said Monday he expects to issue interim rules and a key report later this week – a month early – as the Obama administration weighs its next move on offshore drilling," reports Samuelsohn. http://politi.co/bXivFc
BUT DON'T EXPECT DRILLING TO RESUME OVERNIGHT – "Even when the moratorium is lifted, you're not going to see drilling come on the next day or the next week," Bromwich said. "It's going to take some time."
Commission co-chair William Reilly (G.H.W. Bush's EPA chief) offered a similar take, saying that while he believes the deepwater drilling ban will be lifted before the Nov. 30 deadline, it won't be business as usual any time soon for drillers. "It'll be a de facto moratorium going forward. ... The combination of new regulations and the changes in some of the requirements ... might delay presumption of drilling beyond the moratorium lifting itself."
ALASKA DRILLING – Sen. Mark Begich suggested yesterday that he may take a page out of Landrieu's playbook and cause procedural headaches for the administration until it provides clarity on offshore drilling off his state's coast. "I'll use whatever means necessary to get them to respond to this. All we're asking for is a very simple thing: Tell us what the rules are and give us a timetable. It's not complicated. And yet they spend more time explaining how they're going to have more discussions about having some other discussions, which really means they're not going to make a decision right away."
MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL PROTESTORS REMOVED – Roughly 100 people were arrested yesterday outside of the White House while protesting against the controversial mining technique. AP: http://bit.ly/dBoe69 . YouTube video: http://bit.ly/9fYGnI
JAMES HANSEN, TOO – The head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (and an outspoken advocate for a carbon cap) was among those cuffed, according to Grist's David Roberts, who ID-ed him in this flickr pic: http://bit.ly/b8qD4r
FRIENDLY FIRE? – Samuelsohn reported yesterday about how some fringe enviros are looking for a green savior to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 primaries. http://politi.co/b1F04H
Here's some react from the print edition's cutting room floor:
Grist's Roberts: "Primarying Obama would be clinically insane. For one thing, the only thing it would show anybody is that the left is hopelessly inept and out of touch (after all, Obama remains wildly popular among the stalwart elements of the Dem base, including blacks, low-income, and young people). … There's more Obama could have done, and more I wish he would do, but he isn't even among the top five problems that greens need to deal with."
Michael Shellenberger, the Breakthrough Institute: "In our view, the spectacular failures of Kyoto and cap and trade are proof that we need a new environmentalism, not a new president. Cap and trade failed because it is bad politics to focus on making fossil fuels more expensive rather than on making clean energy cheap."
SOMETHING PATTY MURRAY AND JIM INHOFE CAN AGREE ON – Eighteen Dems and 23 Rs have joined forces to challenge EPA's proposed industrial boiler regulations. The group says that the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules will create serious obstacles in the construction of new biomass projects and could cause the loss of thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs. They want EPA to exercise discretion it has under the Clean Air Act to set flexible rules that don't do harm to the industry.
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE – "Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has not been shy about invoking the late Sen. Ted Stevens in her write-in bid to retain her seat, and the Alaskan political legend could even make a posthumous appearance in her campaign before Nov. 2," reports POLITICO's Shira Toeplitz. "Stevens recorded two television ads for Murkowski in the days before he died in a plane crash Aug. 9 en route to a fishing trip." http://politi.co/dpIdze
DON YOUNG ENDORSES… NOBODY – Alaska Public Radio reports the veteran GOP congressman isn't picking anyone in the general election contest. Can be spun both ways: Good for Joe Miller, b/c Murkowski doesn't get a boost; good for Murkowski, because the key Republican doesn't choose the primary winner. http://bit.ly/bfFkDH
SKIMMING THE HOUSE SCHEDULE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO – Of the 85(!) bills on the House suspension calendar for today, here are, um, three ME readers may be interested in:
H.R. 4168 - Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act – would make algae-based biofuel eligible for the cellulosic biofuel producer credit and the special allowance for cellulosic biofuel plant property.
H.R. 6016 - Audit the BP Fund Act – directs a GAO audit of the operations of the fund created by BP to compensate persons affected by the Gulf oil spill.
H.R. 6160 - Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act – supports research, development, demonstration and commercial application across the rare earths supply chain. As you know, rare earths play a major role in clean energy technologies such as wind-generators turbines and hybrid car batteries.
LIGHTNING ROUND –
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday released its plan to respond to the effects of global warming on at-risk plants and wildlife. Plan: http://bit.ly/cdDFuq
The Center for a New American Security yesterday released a report calling for the Pentagon to start planning now to transition to a non-petroleum future. Report: http://bit.ly/bxdEpc
The Center for American Progress Action Fund yesterday released an analysis showing that "Big Oil companies and other special interests" have spent $500 million in lobbying and campaign contributions to defeat clean energy and climate legislation. Analysis: http://bit.ly/aEw1q3
TODAY'S BRIEFINGS –
Operation Free will host a 9:30 a.m. briefing today in the Capitol (S-120) to argue against Senate efforts to undercut EPA's ability to regulate carbon emissions. The group will also release its "Fuel Scorecard" measuring the fuels against a series of economic and security indicators. Scorecard: http://bit.ly/9JBPow
NRDC hosts a 9:30 a.m. briefing today to get reporters ready for the next round of U.N.-led climate talks, which start Oct. 4 in Tianjin, China. They'll talk expected goals for the meeting and its significance in China, which always has a central role in the negotiations given its ranking as the world's largest GHG emitter.
CHECKING THE TRAPS –
WSJ – Lawyers vying for spots in BP lawsuit: http://bit.ly/aDC69J
AP – Poor management led to 2008 TVA coal ash disaster: http://bit.ly/ad4JYT
LAT Editorial – No on Prop. 23: http://lat.ms/a3d3Jc
LAT – LA's Department of Water and Power on Monday recorded an all-time peak energy demand as the area was belted by record heat: http://lat.ms/bdz3Qy
STILL WITH US? Good. Here's your reward: http://bit.ly/dstgz1
** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: One solution for more abundant domestic energy is staring us in the face. Natural gas is the natural choice—now and in the future. We know we need to use cleaner, American energy. And, we have it. Today, the U.S. has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil, giving us generations of this clean, domestic energy source. Natural gas supports 2.8 million American jobs, most states are now home to more than 10,000 natural gas jobs. As Congress and the Administration look for ways toward a cleaner tomorrow, the answer is right here: natural gas. Learn more at www.anga.us. And, follow us on Twitter @angaus. **
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